Produced by David A. Schwan. HTML version by Al Haines. The Story of the Pony Express An account of the most remarkable mail service ever in existence, and its place in history. By Glenn D. Bradley Author of Winning the Southwest To My Parents Preface This little volume has but one purpose--to give an authentic, useful, and readable account of the Pony Express. This wonderful enterprise played an important part in history, and demonstrated what American spirit can accomplish. It showed that the "heroes of sixty-one" were not all south of Mason and Dixon's line fighting each other. And, strange to say, little of a formal nature has been written concerning it. I have sought to bring to light and make accessible to all readers the more important facts of the Pony Express--its inception, organization and development, its importance to history, its historical background, and some of the anecdotes incidental to its operation. The subject leads one into a wide range of fascinating material, all interesting though much of it is irrelevant. In itself this material is fragmentary and incoherent. It would be quite easy to fill many pages with western adventure having no special bearing upon the central topic. While I have diverged occasionally from the thread of the narrative, my purpose has been merely to give where possible more background to the story, that the account as a whole might be more understandable in its relation to the general facts of history. Special acknowledgment is due Frank A. Root of Topeka, Kansas, joint author with William E. Connelley of The Overland Stage To California, an excellent compendium of data on many phases of the subject. In preparing this work, various Senate Documents have been of great value. Some interesting material is found in Inman and Cody's Salt Lake Trail. The files of the Century Magazine, old newspaper files, Bancroft's colossal history of the West and the works of Samuel L. Clemens have also been of value in compiling the present book. G.D.B. Contents I--At A Nation's Crisis II--Inception and Organization of the Pony Express III--The First Trip and Triumph IV--Operation, Equipment, and Business V--California and the Secession Menace VI--Riders and Famous Rides VII--Anecdotes of the Trail and Honor Roll VIII--Early Overland Mail Routes IX--Passing of the Pony Express Illustrations Transportation and communication across the plains "A whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom of the desert was gone." The Story of the Pony Express Chapter I At A Nation's Crisis The Pony Express was the first rapid transit and the first fast mail line across the continent from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast. It was a system by means of which messages were carried swiftly on horseback across the plains and deserts, and over the mountains of the far West. It brought the Atlantic coast and the Pacific slope ten days nearer to each other.